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I dont want anyone who doesn't believe in the authenticity of the Bible to post unnecessary comments on this, but what are your thoughts on the end times.. Are you a Premillennialist, or Post? Do you think we are nearing the end?

I dont want anyone who doesn't believe in the authenticity of the Bible to post unnecessary comments on this, but what are your thoughts on the end times.. Are you a Premillennialist, or Post? Do you think we are nearing the end?

Why are you asking this on a USC athletics forum is a better question. There are better suited places to achieve your intended result. Although it does sometimes seem like this is actually a southern baptist forum.

Because I share common interests with most people on here and with all this Russia, Ukraine stuff going on, it got me thinking. So in saying that, I wanted some opinions. You could say your first sentence to a lot of threads

One serious question to those who take the bible literally, how can it be taken literally when there are 4 different accounts of the same event and there are no similarities in the details, that is just looking at the birth and death. Obviously as in any case with any event there would be slight variances of minor details but the major details would be the same. Also the book of Revelation in which most people believe lays out the end of days was written at the same time as the persecution of the Christians under Nero which is where 666 comes from, so John obviously was writing about what has happened not what will happen. I ask this question to every person who takes the Bible literally and I have yet to be given an explanation as to why there are extreme differences of the events.

One serious question to those who take the bible literally, how can it be taken literally when there are 4 different accounts of the same event and there are no similarities in the details, that is just looking at the birth and death. Obviously as in any case with any event there would be slight variances of minor details but the major details would be the same. Also the book of Revelation in which most people believe lays out the end of days was written at the same time as the persecution of the Christians under Nero which is where 666 comes from, so John obviously was writing about what has happened not what will happen. I ask this question to every person who takes the Bible literally and I have yet to be given an explanation as to why there are extreme differences of the events.

I think it's a stretch to say there are no similarities in the details, it's written from four different perspectives and I believe only 2 of the 4 were first hand accounts. Let me put it this way. I could go to a USC football game and come on here afterward and read about 100 very different accounts of what just happened.

__________________
"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."
Bill Shankly, YNWA!

Because I share common interests with most people on here and with all this Russia, Ukraine stuff going on, it got me thinking. So in saying that, I wanted some opinions. You could say your first sentence to a lot of threads

Wars and rumors of wars....

Everything we see on the news today has been going on a loong time. The situation in Ukraine for example is nothing new either. After world war two the Soviet Army fought a long and largely silent war against Ukrainians who didn't want to be part of the USSR. As far as that indocating end of days it simply cant.

Behold! I am coming like a thief in the night!

End of days? Maybe maybe not

__________________Being a Clemson fan must be like having hayfever and diarrhea at the same time. I am ZERO!!!! Congrats, you figured it out!

I believe that John was writing about the Roman empire in a coded language (the apocalyptic symbolism of many Old Testament books) that could only be interpreted by other Jews that understood the context. In that way he wrote a very subversive book that predicted the overthrow of Roman rule by Christianity, a prophecy, by the way, that came true.

I believe that John was writing about the Roman empire in a coded language (the apocalyptic symbolism of many Old Testament books) that could only be interpreted by other Jews that understood the context. In that way he wrote a very subversive book that predicted the overthrow of Roman rule by Christianity, a prophecy, by the way, that came true.

This. One thing to keep in mind when reading the Bible (or any other book for that matter) is that it is written for a specific audience and as a result context plays a huge role in interpretation.

__________________Being a Clemson fan must be like having hayfever and diarrhea at the same time. I am ZERO!!!! Congrats, you figured it out!

This. One thing to keep in mind when reading the Bible (or any other book for that matter) is that it is written for a specific audience and as a result context plays a huge role in interpretation.

I'm in Christian Studies program and we are going over this in one of my classes. When I read the Bible and exegete the passage, I go through 5 different contexts. A historical context, Christilogical, Theological, literary, how it points or relates to he kingdom of God

But for my views I am a amellenialist where I believe that we are in the end times. Not necessarily Jesus will come back in my lifetime but that ever since Jesus ascended into heaven the End times have started and will just grow worse until Jesus returns

Two quotes from the Gospel of Thomas always stand out to me when people talk about "the end times."

Quote:

The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us how our end will be."
Jesus said, "Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death."

Quote:

His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."

I don't happen to believe the Bible was ever intended to be taken literally but with that being said:

Some people believe we have 'literally' been living in the 'end times'...or more to my point...that it 'officially' began in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration and later that same year when General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of Turkish rule because this is what led to the worldwide 're-gathering' of the Jewish people to 'their' homeland and the reestablishment of the 'Jewish State'.

After that they claim to be able to point to all sorts of events and issues that supposedly can all be viewed as some kind of sign(s) that we are living in the 'End Times' and that it started in 1917. From natural disasters to world politics to societal changes to the advancement of certain technologies , etc...all claimed as being supported by Biblical scripture.

For example:

"Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..." (2 Timothy 3:1-4)

This sounds like every single episode of 'Entertainment Tonight' ever produced doesn't it?

Again, I don't happen to agree here...from a literal sense...but I do find the attempt to connect a self-created history to Biblical scripture after the fact...or during...which I find even more unbelievable...fairly interesting.